ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) A trial is underway in federal court in Albuquerque on whether a northwestern New Mexico city can have a monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments in front of City Hall. A lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of two Bloomfield residents contends the monument violates their religious freedoms by conveying a message that the city endorses a particular religious belief.
Bloomfield's lawyers contend that private individuals erected and paid for the monument under a 2007 city resolution. That resolution allows people to erect historical monuments of their choosing.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that the case is being heard by Senior U.S. District Judge James A. Parker.
